


The Visit

by thefalloutalleyouthzone



Series: Reaching Out [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, M/M, Matsuoka Rin Swears, Tags Are Hard, Yamazaki Sousuke's Shoulder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 07:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16192907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefalloutalleyouthzone/pseuds/thefalloutalleyouthzone
Summary: “Makoto.”The brunette looked back up again at the red-head and saw his face full of worry.“What happened between you two?”And just like that, the hurt and frustration came crawling back into his body.





	The Visit

**Author's Note:**

> I just had to make the very little soumako content we got in ep 10 angsty.
> 
> Also, Sousuke improved way too quickly for my liking so I changed it up a little, hope you enjoy!

Makoto couldn’t take in any longer.

 

The brunette was sitting by himself in a random cafe he'd found on the busy streets of Tokyo. It was surprisingly pleasant with some small cat decorations scattered around, bringing the place together nicely.

Not that it mattered though.

He couldn’t bring himself to go to Akane’s place because he knew he would get questioned by her on why he was by himself and why he looked like he was struggling to barely hold himself together.

Because he was struggling.

So much.

 

He hadn’t been able to speak to his best friend in over a week, something that has never happened in his life before; he was falling behind quickly with his assignments, truly underestimating how hard university actually was, and to top it all off he had no clue on what he was gonna do in the future.

 

He was feeling pressured by everything, and he couldn’t stand the idea of someone worrying about him.

  


Despite all of this, there was a much more pressing matter that was bothering him.

  


It was Nagisa who had told him.

It was always Nagisa who told him.

 

Makoto sighed, thinking back to how happy he was a month ago -when Sousuke had come to visit- before everything had gone wrong.

 

It was probably one of the best weekends he had experienced in a long time.

 

Sousuke had arrived a little late to their meeting point at Hachiko’s statue in Shibuya, saying Tokyo was more confusing than he remembered. Makoto had laughed, surprised he had managed to last by himself when he studied there at high school. He then made sure to tease him a little, appreciating the blush that blossomed on Sousuke’s cheeks when he did so.

 

Makoto thinly smiled down at his cappuccino, reeling in the memory.

 

He had taken Sousuke to his university and showed him around the campus afterwards. He thought at the time that he was boring the teen, rambling on about where his classes were and what the food was like. But the raven-haired had looked deep in concentration as he listened, asking questions about how the lectures were and if he was keeping up with the workload.

 

Afterwards, Makoto took him to his favourite ramen bar that was close by. He hadn’t realised Sousuke had never seen him eat until he saw the shocked expression on his face when he was only halfway through his bowl and Makoto had gone up to order seconds.

 

It was adorably sweet and he had wished he had taken a photo.

 

Now though, now he would have deleted it.

 

Makoto shakingly took another sip of his drink, trying to push down his emotions as all the other memories came flooding back like a tidal wave.

 

Sousuke stayed around his place as they had intended. Makoto remembered feeling awkward at first, he had wanted to be the perfect host by making him a drink, but Sousuke had other ideas and had pinned him against the door the second it was closed. Makoto hadn’t been able to hold back the gasp from this action.

 

_“Where do you think you’re going, Tachibana?”_

 

_“I’m not sure, Yamazaki. Where do you plan on taking me?”_

 

They hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other from then on. Drinks forgotten, they had relished in the touch of their bodies pressed together for the rest of the evening, baring everything to one another, drowning themselves in the satisfaction of finally being together after so long.

 

Nevertheless, Makoto was now feeling extremely bitter _._

 

He suddenly felt a vibration coming from his coat pocket. Confused because he thought he had already silenced his phone, he pulled it out, feeling a little disappointed in himself for wanting to see a certain name flashing up at him when he knew he would probably never see it again.

 

Instead, it was Rin.

 

“Hello?” Makoto answered with a forced smile planted on his face. It was scarily easy to do sometimes. Sousuke had always found it irritating and appreciated it when he wasn’t so happy, yet Sousuke had become the reason for his actual smiles throughout the past few months.

 

He really needed to stop thinking about him.

 

“Yo, Makoto. I’m in Tokyo now, wanna meet up?” Rin’s voice was as bright as ever and Makoto wished for it to spread through him and make him feel something.

 

“Sure, RinRin.” Makoto could easily keep up a farce on the phone.

 

“Tch, Makoto. Don’t be like Nagisa… where would you like to meet?”

 

Makoto paused, trying to think of a place that would help calm down the anxiety he was feeling for having to face someone that would be able to see the cracks in his foundation.

 

“How about the aquarium?”

 

* * *

 

Looking at the different species of fish was distracting enough. Rin kept the conversation light and pointed out all the different fish that looked amusing or reminded him of his teammates, which happened to be pretty much every one of them. Makoto would giggle at Rin’s outlandish attempt of trying to find one that resembled himself but he kept picking fish that were definitely not red or shark-like enough. He had missed his friend so much and seeing him having a nice time made Makoto feel like he could almost be having a nice time too.

 

Almost.

 

Makoto had been to the aquarium once before when he had agreed to face off Hiyori in a backstroke race. He had needed a place then, with a peaceful environment to help calm his nerves for what he was going to do for his best friend, and being able to see fish without having to go in the ocean was something the brunette had always found relaxing. It took a little pressure off of the race, and it eased his nerves with the other backstroke swimmer.

 

_“Could this be a person that Tachibana Makoto doesn’t like?”_

 

Sousuke had been right about that. He hadn’t liked Hiyori. He was too abrasive to them all when they had first met and was extremely protective of Ikuya, very different to how Makoto was to his best friend.

But like all things ironic, Hiyori was no longer on his short list of people that had hurt him and had been replaced by the person that had asked that question.

 

Makoto shook his head and tried to focus on the dog sharks they were now looking at in the aquarium. He crouched down, getting onto their level and watched them swim for a bit, admiring the way they moved.

There was another reason why Makoto had chosen to visit the aquarium with Rin; he knew he would get a kick out of it.

 

“The way they swim is said to resemble a dog sniffing the ground as it walks.” Makoto recited, reading the  information on the plaque and remembering it from his last visit, “That’s why it’s known as in Japan as a ’dog shark, this says.”

 

“Aw. It’s actually kind of cute.” Makoto looked across to his friend and saw how Rin was smiling fondly at the tank. He couldn’t help but giggle at the amount of admiration he was showing. He knew his friend was a massive nerd when it came to facts about sharks.

 

“I’ve been dying to show it to you!”

 

Rin smiled down at him then. “You’re just as weird as ever, I see. You and Haru both.”

 

Makoto felt like teasing the red-head slightly for this comment. “You haven’t changed either.” He continued to look at his friend and was surprised at how he hadn’t been paying attention to his physique before. He had grown a little bit and was certainly bulkier now, with his pectorals stretching out his black t-shirt. His face lit up more too, a development that had been increasing ever since they had swum together at regionals.

He looked really happy.

“You seem a little stronger now though.”

 

Rin looked back to the tank. “Yeah. Studying abroad made a difference.”

 

Makoto looked back at the tank and felt his face slightly quiver. He couldn’t bare it anymore. He had been kidding himself all afternoon, trying to make himself feel anything but heartbroken. It had nearly worked. His head kept betraying him though, making him think about Sousuke nearly every goddamn minute; and when he had first heard Rin answer the phone and say he was in Tokyo, there had been a question nibbling at the back of his mind, edging itself closer and closer, daring Makoto to ask it.

 

It was at the forefront now, locking itself down and not letting itself be ignored.

 

Makoto couldn’t take it any longer.

 

He had to know.

 

He felt his head drop down as he asked. “I heard you saw Sousuke?”

 

The brunette wasn’t sure how much Rin knew about what had developed between him and Sousuke. He had told bits to Haru but not much, which is why he felt exposed when he could see Rin looking at him from the corner of his eye.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Makoto felt his heartbeat quicken and his palms became hot and sweaty against the cool glass. He didn’t dare to look at Rin. Not yet. He knew he already had vulnerability written across his face but he needed to know how Sousuke was doing, especially since the surgery was the cause of all their problems.

 

“His surgery was a success.”

 

Makoto gasped, unable to contain his reaction. He snapped his head around to Rin and saw his big, toothy smile. He felt relief spreading through his entire body, the pent-up emotions he had been feeling for the past three weeks were finally leaving him. He felt a real smile spread across his face, something that hadn’t happened in such a very long time.

 

“Really? That’s great news.” He sighed happily. He was so glad Sousuke’s surgery had gone well, even if it was the thing that had been gnawing at his gut for so long.

 

Makoto looked back down at the dog sharks, so happy that he felt relief instead of hurt.

 

“Makoto.”

 

The brunette looked back up again at the red-head and saw his face full of worry.

 

“What happened between you two?”

 

And just like that, the hurt and frustration came crawling back into his body.

 

“It doesn’t matter.” Makoto looked away again, his words came out more harshly than he wanted them too.

 

“Bullshit!”

 

Makoto looked shockingly at his friend, surprised he sounded so angry.

 

“When I met up with Sousuke, the idiot didn’t look one bit happy when he delivered me the news.”

 

“He didn’t?”

 

Rin shook his head. “I pushed at him, but he gave me nothing and sulked like the mess he’s always been. I figured something had gone on between you too and I had to meet with you afterwards.” Makoto felt his heart twinge at this. “I called immediately. I was hoping you wouldn’t be as stupid but you’ve been wearing such a fake smile all afternoon and it’s making me so fucking sick.”

 

Makoto was completely speechless watching his friend get so angry for his sake. He didn’t know how to answer to all of that.

 

Rin sighed and rested his head in his hands. “Just tell me what my idiotic best friend did so I can beat him up.”

 

Makoto knitted his eyebrows together. “What makes you think this is his fault?”

 

Rin looked at him as if he had sprouted another head from his body. “Because you, Tachibana Makoto, are a selfless human being who always puts people’s happiness before your own.”

 

Makoto softly smiled at that.

 

Makoto stood up and turned his head back towards the tank. He took a deep breath, not sure if he was ready to discuss what had happened a few weeks ago, but he had a feeling Rin wasn’t going to back down until he heard everything.

 

“He didn’t tell me.”

 

“That it was a success? I kinda gathered from your reaction.” Rin said innocently.

 

“No. He didn’t tell me he was going into surgery. At all.” Makoto looked up. He could feel his face twinging, a level of pain rising up to the surface, a wetness forming in his eyes. He had tried to keep it under control ever since Nagisa had called him on that dreadful night. He didn’t let anything get out otherwise it would never stop.

 

But here he was, opening the flood works.

 

He didn’t realise Rin’s arms were wrapped around him until felt the redhead’s lips brush against his ear, trying to sooth his pain away. The tears started to roll down faster, his breath got caught in his throat. He rested his head against his friend’s shoulder, allowing himself to be swallowed up in comfort.

 

They stood embraced like that for what felt like such a long time until Rin finally spoke again.

 

“Just you wait. I’m gonna kick his ass.” Rin said with a fiery determination.

 

Makoto shot his head up. “N-no don’t. Just leave it.” He choked. “It’s obvious he doesn’t care enough.”

 

Rin frowned. “Hey, that’s not true. He was just dumb enough to close himself off. He does that annoyingly from time to time.”

 

Makoto shook his head while wiping the tears off of his face. “No, really. He doesn’t. He didn’t speak to me at all when he got back after visiting. I tried phoning a few times but he never answered. Texting wasn’t any different.”

 

Rin clenched his teeth together. “That bastard.”

 

Makoto felt panic rising rapidly in his chest. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine.”

 

Rin pulled away, but let one hand rest against Makoto’s right arm. “You’re not fine. Don’t lie to me.” Rin sighed and looked down. “You need to go tell him how he’s hurt you.”

 

Makoto huffed shakily. “I don’t think he’ll like that. Anyway, it’s in the past now. I just want to forget it all ever happened.”

 

Rin looked at him again, pity resting clearly on his features. “I don’t care. He’s hurt my friend.” Rin ran his fingers down Makoto’s arm until they reached his hand, clasping it tightly. “And I’m not letting this go on for any longer.”

 

He felt himself be pulled strongly by the fiery redhead, stumbling out of the aquarium and marching all the way to where Rin had been earlier that day.

 

* * *

 

Makoto found himself standing outside a hospital room’s door holding a bunch of flowers. He didn’t particularly want the flowers but Rin had insisted so Sousuke wouldn’t know what was coming when Makoto eventually ‘bites his head off’.

 

He sighed and mentally prepared himself. He couldn’t back away because Rin was waiting down the corridor and he couldn’t see any possible way to get past unnoticed. He was going to have to enter the hospital room and face the dreaded confrontation.

 

He knocked on the door and made sure to keep his face out of the door’s window so Sousuke wouldn’t be able to see who it was.

 

“Come in.”

 

Makoto opened the door felt his heart plunge.

 

Sousuke was lounging on his hospital bed, reading a book. It didn’t look like he had gotten very far, which made perfect sense to Makoto since he knew Sousuke hardly ever read books, only when he was forced to. He was dressed in the hospital’s provisional gown with his right arm hooked in a sling to stop his shoulder from moving around too much. His hair was a little messy, but apart from the newly added shoulder sling that his eyes hadn’t adjusted to yet, Sousuke looked as beautiful as he did when Makoto saw him last.

Makoto had found him in that same position on his own bed on the last day of Sousuke’s visit. He had gone to the local convenience store to pick up some food for their dinner and had left Sousuke alone in his apartment. When he came back and saw him lounging like that, he was struck with emotion. He had immediately dumped the food down on the kitchen counter and had rushed over to Sousuke’s side, burying him with kisses. Sousuke was shocked at how eager Makoto was at first but didn’t turn him away. Instead, he had pulled him onto his lap and convinced Makoto to stay with him in bed for the rest of the day.

 

It was now extremely hard for Makoto to see him like that after nearly a month of no contact.

 

Makoto entered the room and cleared his throat, not fully trusting himself to speak yet.

 

Sousuke looked up and his face immediately fell. He sat there looking completely dazed at who was in front of him, letting the book fall out of his hand and offered a small greeting.

 

Makoto observed the room, trying to avoid the intense look Sousuke was giving him. He swallowed dryly, regretting not having chugged galleons of water before coming into the heated situation.

 

“Are those for me?” Makoto looked back at the raven-haired teen and saw him nod at the flowers Makoto was holding. He looked down at the bunch, not realising he had placed a deathly grip on the poor things and was causing their stems to break.

 

“They were. Sorry about that.” It came off with a bite, but Makoto figured it was no good playing nice now.

 

Makoto looked back up at Sousuke and saw his face distorted with pain as he stumbled to get everything out; “Makoto I’m so sorry I-“

 

Makoto raised his hand to tell the raven-haired to stop. He did immediately, showing off surprised obedience.

 

Makoto took another deep breath, not allowing himself to lose control. He walked around the hospital bed and came to stand close to the body part that had caused so much pain for everyone involved. Sousuke watched him gingerly as he came closer to the bed.

 

“Can I touch it?” Makoto whispered. Sousuke nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Makoto, almost as if he might disappear at any second.

 

Makoto pulled the hospital gown down, exposing Sousuke’s shoulder. Apart from a few scars from where they had operated, it looked the same. The redness had gone down a little which was good, it was clear to see the surgery had been a success. Makoto blinked rapidly at it, trying to stop the water that was building up in his eyes from spilling out.

Makoto pulled the gown back over the shoulder and took a step back, his emotions were demanding to be released.

 

“Do it, Makoto.”

 

The brunette looked up at Sousuke’s face, surprised to see some anger painted there.

 

“Shout at me… it’s what I deserve.” Sousuke sighed frustratingly.

 

“You deserve a lot more than that, Yamazaki Sousuke.” Makoto spat.

 

Sousuke winced at Makoto using his full name, dropping his head and hunching his shoulders a little. “Yeah, you’re right about that.”

 

Makoto looked around and grabbed the seat that was near the end of Sousuke’s bed. He pulled it up to the top of it and sat down, flowers still crushed in his hand.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going into surgery, Sousuke?”

 

It was quiet for a few moments. The sound of people walking outside in the corridor echoed into the room and struggled against the awkward tension where the two boys were.

 

Sousuke took a shaky breath. “I didn’t tell you because I was scared.”

 

Makoto ended up finding it easier to not think about how he should respond and let it all go. “Scared? Why didn’t you say anything about being scared? Why did you lock yourself away? How the fuck do you think I felt!”

 

Sousuke looked up in shock at Makoto cursing.

 

“You don’t think I was also scared when I heard about it from Nagisa? Nagisa!” Makoto had to emphasise how ridiculous it was that Nagisa happened to know and not the person Sousuke had cradled solidly for 8 hours in bed.

 

“Look I’m real-“

 

“Do you know how awful it was to go from that weekend we spent together, happily avoiding everything else going on in our lives, to then get completely ignored by you when you got back home? Do you know how dreadful it was replaying everything that had happened on those 3 days and doubting every little thing I did, wondering where on earth I did to mess it up? And then finding out you were given a date to have shoulder surgery on and feeling completely and utterly helpless because I couldn’t even give you the support you needed because you had shut me off?” Makoto’s voice cracked at the end, causing him to lose the dignified control he had. Tears and snot started flowing down his face and into his mouth. He cradled his arms rocked himself in his chair, an act he had done several times in the past few weeks. He closed his eyes, wanting to escape from it all.

 

For the second time that day, he felt strong arms wrapping around him, nestling him tightly into the other’s chest. He let himself be pulled onto the hospital bed and felt Sousuke tremble as he cradled him as he had done before. He felt a hand stroke the top of his head, instantly calming him down and turning his loud crying into soft whimpers.

 

Makoto couldn’t help but think back to when he had wanted to be cradled by Sousuke as he panicked over the lack of replies from him. He had tried not to dwell on it at first, but then it became so obvious as to what Sousuke was trying to do, his anxiety with it intensified. He had cried himself to sleep several times that week, not understanding any of it and had wanted to hear something, _anything,_ that would help him.

 

Sousuke didn’t say anything until he was sure Makoto had fully calmed down.

 

“You’re so brave, Makoto.”

 

Makoto huffed at this. He wasn’t brave, he was just stupid for letting his emotions get the better of him and lost grip of rationality.

 

“I’m such an idiot and I don’t deserve to be talking to you again but please hear me out this one time.” Makoto felt Sousuke’s chest rise shakily as he said this. The brunette nudged closer into him, trying to show he was ready to listen.

 

“As soon as I got back home, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I missed you like crazy and I felt so stupid because it hadn’t even been 24 hours yet. I was scared too. Scared I would make the wrong move and end up hurting you and you didn’t deserve that because I always mess up.” Sousuke continued to stroke Makoto’s hair. “I thought I would save you the emotional trauma of getting hurt along the way by cutting you off there and then, but I was too stupid to realise I was already doing what I feared.”

 

Makoto hummed in agreement and felt Sousuke stiffen slightly.

 

“When my doctor told me about the option for surgery. I was so shocked. I didn’t tell anyone if that’s any consolation. Well, I told Gou and I realised my mistake then because she told everybody else.” Sousuke sighed, voice cracking ever so slightly. “That isn’t the point, I messed up badly. I’m sorry.”

 

Makoto got up from his position and turned to see the distraught on Sousuke’s face.

 

Makoto knocked his knuckles on Sousuke’s forehead. “You have a silly brain up there.”

 

Sousuke winced again, “Yeah I know.”

 

“Why did you try and prevent something amazing from happening in our lives? Why did you try protecting me when I can protect myself?!” Makoto’s anger returned eagerly, not finished with Sousuke yet.

 

“I may be a complete scaredy-cat when it comes to certain things but I’m not made of glass. I can handle myself in a fight if you let me in, if you even give me the right to.” Sousuke looked up, pained by how much he had offended Makoto.

“I could have helped you, I could have reassured you from your worries. But you listened to them before you even gave me the chance.” Makoto looked down, feeling slightly relieved he managed to express how he felt.

 

“And let me decide whether or not you’ll hurt me, stupid. Don’t assume it all for yourself.” Makoto lightly punched Sousuke in the chest as he said this, and let his hand stay there resting against the _thud thud thud_ of Sousuke’s heart.

 

He looked up and saw how worried Sousuke looked, the cogs in his head turning over the information Makoto had just given him.

 

“I’m so sorry Makoto. You deserve better than the mess I am.” Sousuke whispered.

 

“Too bad you’re what I want, though,” Makoto responded back, smiling slightly. He reached out for Sousuke’s hand at the side of his bed and gripped it tightly. He was feeling confident after finally coming clean with how he felt and wanted to continue using his newly found confidence. “Can we try this again without some big idiot’s head getting in the way?”

 

Sousuke sat there for a moment and knitted his eyebrows together. “A big idiot huh? I think maybe the space between us made you too big for your own boots Makoto, who says you get to mock me?” Relief spread through Makoto as Sousuke joked with a smile coming into play. “And anyway, you left out sexy- oh no wait that’s you.”

 

Makoto blushed fiercely. “Soouusuke.”

 

Sousuke laughed lightly, getting some sparkle back into his eyes. “Man, I have really missed you, you know.”

 

He pulled Makoto into another tight hug, locking his arms around him. Makoto didn’t want to let him off the hook that easily though. “This isn’t over, you know? I have a right to be mad for at least two months.”

 

Sousuke breathed lightly against his neck, sending shivers down his spine. “What about one month?”

 

“You don’t get to negotiate my pain…” Makoto sighed.

 

“Okay. I don’t mind you being mad at me as long as I still get to keep you. I don’t want to let myself lose you again.” The raven-haired buried his face into the groove of Makoto’s, pecking lightly at his skin.

 

Makoto’s heart swelled. He closed his eyes and let Sousuke tease him. He’d let him tease every inch of him for the rest of his life if he could.


End file.
